Ghost Story
by Ms. Videl Son
Summary: AU. "You're a real cutie, you know that?" said a pretty teenage girl with wide brown eyes. If it weren't for that gaping head wound and blissfully vacant expression, he might have mistaken her for a living person. SasuHina.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Ghost Story  
**Rating: **PG-13 ( T ) – becuz of all th' dead people.  
**Disclaimer: **This idea's not even that original, lolz...

**Spoilers: **I SEE DEAD PEOPLE

**Summary:** AU. "You're a real cutie, you know that?" said a pretty teenage girl with wide brown eyes. If it weren't for that gaping head wound and blissfully vacant expression, he might have mistaken her for a living person. SasuHina.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 2012

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Sasuke tensed as five cold fingers closed around his hand. They laced through his own digits with affectionate familiarity, squeezing lightly. As the chill seeped into his skin, the hairs on his limbs stood in petrified attention.

Tentatively, Sasuke rolled his eyes to the side. When his admirer came into view, his pupils contracted sharply in terror.

"_You're a real cutie, you know that?_" said a pretty teenage girl with wide brown eyes. If it weren't for that gaping head wound and blissfully vacant expression, he might have mistaken her for a living person. She brought her free hand up to clutch at his bicep as she continued, "_I've got some free time. Want to catch a movie, or something?_"

"N-No," replied Sasuke, his teeth chattering erratically. He leaned away from her as far as her grip would let him, but she closed in on him again to nuzzle his cheek. He shivered.

Even through the layers of clothing he wore he could feel the numbing ache of cold as her fingertips longingly stroked the inside of his arm. "_You don't like me_," the girl accused, her blue lips forming a pout. "_Do you prefer blondes?_"

"No."

"_Do you think I'm pretty?_"

"I guess."

"_Are you gay?_"

"No."

"_Do you have a girlfriend, then?_"

"No."

"_Then why don't you like me?_"

Deep down, Sasuke knew that he would have rejected this girl in either life or death, taken or single, but he certainly wasn't about to let her in on that little secret. There was no telling what horrifying supernatural powers she could unleash on him if he let her down less-than-gently. "Long distance relationships are too hard."

The spirit drew away from him for a moment and Sasuke could feel some of the warm feeling return to his arm. She looked confused as she said, "_'Long distance'?_"

"You're not from around here," Sasuke claimed, nodding vaguely at the room around him. The walls were bare, the bed was made, the curtains were drawn and the ramen cup on the desk was still steaming. It almost looked as if no one lived there. "I can tell."

The ghost girl took in her surroundings and a frown formed on her face. "_Where am I?_"

Sasuke sighed. He always hated this part. "613 Rei Street, apartment seven."

The girl, surprisingly, giggled. She swatted at his bicep playfully and her fingers went right through his flesh, causing Sasuke to shiver. "_Oh, you naughty boy_!" she accused, leaning down to wrap her arms around his neck from behind. Her cold lips were pressed against the shell of his ear as she whispered, "_Taking me back to your apartment when we hardly even know each other..._"

Okay, that was his limit.

Sasuke pushed his desk chair back with enough force to disintegrate the crushing specter. As he bisected her ectoplasmic form, she vanished in a swirl of grayish-white steam which hovered above his desk like a menacing cloud. Passing through her was like diving headfirst into a cold shower; when he emerged on the other side of where her body should have been, Sasuke's entire body was puckering up with gooseflesh.

"_How rude..._," the puffy remains of the spirit whined as it began to reform. The silhouette of the girl was vague at first, then a little sharper and, after a few extended seconds, she reappeared with complete clarity. Her hands were balled against her hips and her chocolate-brown eyes glared at him, little drips of gore from her head injury collecting in her eyelashes. "_Is this how you usually treat guests?_"

Sasuke levied himself out of his rolling desk chair and stood, placing the piece of furniture between him and the ghost-girl. His fingers clutched at the back of the chair, nails digging into the worn fabric, as he said, "You're not a guest, you're a _ghost_."

The spirit tilted her head to one side, a silly smile creeping onto her lips. "_Oh, right, I'm so sure. And what are you? A demon?_"

"I'm a living, breathing human being," Sasuke countered, eyes trailing the girl as she floated slowly toward him. How could any being – from this world or the next – completely overlook the fact that they hovered inches above the ground at all times? "So...So please leave me alone."

The ghost-girl stopped before him, her lower half bisected by Sasuke's desk chair. She peered at him with slight disgust. "_If you don't like me, then why did you bring me to your apartment?You could __have just left me alone._"

"Believe me, if I could, I absolutely would," Sasuke replied, backing up until his back was flattened against his front door. One of his trembling hands clutched desperately at the door knob. "I don't know your story – and I don't _want_ to know, either – so please, just go to heaven or...wherever it is you belong. Just leave me alone."

Uh-oh. She was doing that glowy-thing.

"How...dare you...," the specter hissed, her features slackening into what a disinterested observer might categorize as passive. Her body faded into translucence and within her chest, right where her beating heart used to be, a tiny flame of white-hot light began to shimmer.

Shit, shit, shit –

Sasuke began fumbling with his doorknob but, stupid him, it was locked. He chanced a peek over his shoulder at the ghost-girl and found that the light was glowing ever brighter. She was liable to go "critical" at any moment.

"Come on, _come on_!" Sasuke demanded, struggling with the lock. Finally managing to twist it with his bumbling fingers, he yanked at the knob and pulled the door open – only to be foiled by the chain at the top. "_Shit_!"

"_I only wanted you to like me..._" complained the spirit, her voice echoing around the room as if they were deep inside some dark, haunted cave. "_Why don't you like me?_"

Sasuke could feel the cold, curling tendrils of her fingers tickle his neck right below his ear. His heaving breaths were exploding from his mouth in white clouds of smoke, dissipating into the freezing air. Much later, the Uchiha would wonder if that was his soul trying to escape the terror that was crashing upon him.

Knock, knock.

Had Sasuke not already been at the limits of his terror, the rapping at his door in the middle of this hellish exchange might have startled him. Instead, he was merely baffled.

The spirit, too, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden intrusion. The wall of cold, hanging heavy over Sasuke, stopped approaching and held perfectly still. As if waiting for something.

Knock, knock.

Sasuke wasn't aware of when, exactly, it had happened, but suddenly the ghostly presence was absent. The temperature of the room had risen back up to its usual seventy-two degrees, the echoing had abated back into whatever hell it had come from, and the tingling dread that pricked his skin like pins and needles was gone. He turned and looked around; no more ghost.

Knock, knock.

Fingers still trembling a little, Sasuke reached up and disengaged the chain lock above his head. With a slightly steadier motion, he turned the knob in his clammy palm and pulled the door inward.

Waiting for him on the other side was a girl. A living one (as far as he could tell).

She stood on his doormat – which didn't say welcome, only "wipe your feet" – twiddling her fingers and looking up and down the hallway and seemed, for lack of better adjective, a little frightened. He viewed her curiously from the crack he had produced between the door and its jamb. "Yes?"

The girl jumped and, perhaps accidentally, turned her face up to look him directly in the eye. A moment later she seemed to realize this was some kind of mistake and averted her gaze down to her twiddling fingers. It was too late, though; he'd already seen the ghostly-pale eyes. Creepy.

"Ah...I'm s-sorry to bother you so late, Sasuke-san...," the girl stammered and blushed and Sasuke figured she must be there to declare her undying love, or something similar. "It's just...um..."

"I don't want to go out with anyone right now," the Uchiha informed her, moving to close the door.

Her tiny, pale hand darted forward to hold it open. Blushing a little more furiously, she said, "W-Wait! I just...um...b-brought your assignments. Iruka-sensei asked me to."

Sasuke watched as she, daring to move her hand for a moment, slid the straps of her backpack from her shoulders and lowered the satchel to the floor. She unzipped the larger pouch at the back and withdrew a blood red folder. She stood back up and held it out to him, clearly expecting him to take it.

The Uchiha observed the folder a little more closely before accepting it. It had Iruka's handwriting on the front, so her story about bringing him homework seemed legitimate. Deciding he could just burn whatever love note she'd inserted into it later, Sasuke reached out and accepted the proffering. "Thanks."

As the folder passed from her possession into his, the tips of their fingers touched for a single instant. The contact produced a static charge that Sasuke could feel down to the soles of his feet and the ends of his hair. He figured that she must have felt it, too, because she withdrew her hand quicker than she had offered it and clutched it to her chest. After a startled moment, the girl began twiddling her fingers anxiously.

"Um...," the girl began again, perhaps buying time before he closed the door in her face. Maybe still a little stunned, Sasuke paused to wait for what she had to say. "Are...are you okay here? By yourself?"

"Fine," Sasuke said, firmly and succinctly.

The girl peeked up at him through her dark indigo bangs, fixing him with that eerie moony stare. A shiver climbed up Sasuke's spine as their gazes met, far stronger than the little spark that passed between their flesh. "I-If you need anything...Iruka-sensei said to call him. H-His number is in the folder."

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow in her direction. "Not yours?"

The girl looked a little baffled at this. "N-No...but, um, I guess...if you want it..."

"I don't."

"Oh...okay, then. Did you – ?"

Their conversation, such as it was, halted to an immediate stop when a loud, squealing creak interrupted them. Both teens tilted their heads in the direction of the disturbance and focused their attention on the interior of Sasuke's apartment.

Right there, in the middle of Sasuke's bed, was the ghost-girl. Seeming to finally notice that all attention was on her, she stopped filing her nails (Sasuke didn't know where she'd gotten the nail file; could ghosts conjure stuff like that?) and waved cheerily. Both Sasuke and his guest waved back.

"I-I'm sorry," Sasuke's moon-eyed guest apologized, bowing low. Standing back up, though with her shoulders still slouched down, she finished, "I didn't realize you had company. Feel better soon a-and I hope to see you at school tomorrow."

With that, the girl retrieved her backpack from the floor, slipped it back onto her slim shoulders, and turned down the hallway. Sasuke watched as her long sheet of dark blue hair whipped around the corner and down the stairwell.

It wasn't until she was completely out of sight that Sasuke realized what had just happened.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I started this story sometime in 2010 (I think) so everything until the part where Sasuke reveals his address has been sitting on my computer for _years_. I thought it was a pretty cool start, though, so I picked up right where I left off.

I have some grand plans for this story, so stay tuned.

Please note that the rest of this story is a WORK IN PROGRESS so please consider this a "teaser" chapter. I hope to post updates on the last day of every month.

**Next Update:** 11/30/12

Self-beta'd.

_. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) . _

– _Love can be black and white. SasuHina_


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Ghost Story  
**Rating: **PG-13 ( T ) – becuz of all th' dead people. Also, I swear a lot.  
**Disclaimer:** This idea's not even that original, lolz...  
**Spoilers: **I SEE DEAD PEOPLE

**Summary: **AU. "You're a real cutie, you know that?" said a pretty teenage girl with wide brown eyes. If it weren't for that gaping head wound and blissfully vacant expression, he might have mistaken her for a living person. SasuHina.

I drew something for this story. Please copy/paste this link into your browser (without the spaces):

megaminoeien . deviantart art / Fade-to-White- 01 – 335812114

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to my fellow Americans! Happy Thursday to everyone else :-D

* * *

**Chapter 2**

The next morning, despite having been awake all night fending off the sexual advances of the undead, Sasuke returned to school. He hadn't ever really been sick, anyway; just avoiding the janitor ghost that haunted the boys' locker room (a smarter ghost would have been haunting the _girls'_ locker room, but Sasuke had decided not to point this out). In spite of the otherworldly complications of his life, Sasuke had a mission.

The campus of Konoha's Academy for the Gifted looked exactly as he had left it; prestigious, pompous and pretentious. The school building itself loomed over him in the sharp light of daybreak like a stucco cyclops; the round stained glass window above the double front doors leered at him as he approached as if it knew he had been skipping class. "The Eye," as the students called it, always looked bloodshot from the painted red glass that emboldened its design, which was that of a wily fox set aflame. Sasuke had no idea what a flaming canine had to do with education, but there was supposed to be some kind of school legend behind it. Whatever.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!"

"Mooorning!"

"Good to have you back, Sasuke-sweetums!"

"Yo, Uchiha! What's up, man?"

"Please marry me! Squeeee!"

As the Uchiha strolled casually across the quad, he ignored all of the people fumbling to gain his attention. Most of them were girls, of course, but even the odd boy every now and again would try to make nice with Sasuke for a "slice of the action." He didn't really care one way or another how many people wanted to make friends with him as long as they were alive.

Scanning his obsidian eyes discreetly over the multi-colored heads of his classmates, Sasuke watched and waited for a glimpse of indigo. She had to be around here somewhere, right? Showing up at his door with a folder full of assignments from Iruka had to mean that the girl with the moony-eyes was in his class or, at the very least, a student of Konoha Academy. He did kind of wish he could remember if she'd been wearing her uniform the night before, though.

Sasuke paused at the open double-doors of the school, turned, and looked around one more time for the girl who evaded his gaze. He saw globs of pink, yellow, orange, brown and red, but no indigo. She was certainly not in the courtyard.

He walked into school with his backpack stylishly draped over one shoulder and headed to the staircase that led to the second floor. Girls swooned against their lockers as he passed, boys alternately glared and whooped their approval at him, and one of the teachers raised his coffee mug to him in greeting. What kiss-ups.

Sasuke mounted the stairs and quickly made it to the second floor. He didn't need to scan the room numbers to figure out where he needed to go; he'd been a second year for at least two months so far and knew perfectly well where his homeroom was located. He wandered into 2-F completely on autopilot.

When he entered, the room was empty. Unsurprising considering there was at least another ten minutes before the final bell rang; the students were all still out enjoying their last little bit of freedom and the teachers were probably exchanging expletive-ridden war stories in the teacher's lounge. That left Sasuke all by his lonesome in the empty classroom.

"G-Good morning, Sasuke-san. I'm glad to see you're feeling better."

In an uncharacteristic display of discomposure, Sasuke jumped. The Uchiha swiveled his head to the back of the classroom and his eyes focused on the person he had been looking for. "You."

The girl flushed a little and lowered her ghostly eyes. "M-Me..."

Readjusting the strap on his shoulder, Sasuke regained his cool and suavely advanced up the aisle of desks. He planted his belongings in the chair right in front of her with a loud thunk and glared down at the top of the girl's bowed head. He was pretty sure these seats were assigned, but he didn't particularly care; hardly any of the teachers enforced that rule.

He continued standing so that he could watch the girl and scrutinize her at the best possible angle. Today, instead of flowing freely down her back, her navy hair was pulled up into a low ponytail at the base of her neck. Though a few locks fell free to frame her round, pale face, the majority of it was out of her way and kept in its place. He could hardly see her moony eyes because they were downcast and hidden beneath a thick layer of dark eyelashes, but he didn't have to observe them too closely; he would never forget their unsettling ghastly hue.

She was prim and proper in her academy uniform; her blouse was buttoned all the way to the top, her necktie cinched the collar shut at her throat, and the burgundy blazer hung loosely around her upper body. Taking a quick peek beneath the desk (purely for the sake of thoroughness, mind you), he noted that the hem of her skirt fell lower even than what was required by the school. It rested respectfully right above her knees and hid her perfectly from the probing view of teenage boys. What wasn't covered by the khaki skirt was practically swallowed up by the tall, plain knee socks that ended just short of her hem. Her feet were swallowed by big, ugly brown loafers that he couldn't imagine any of the other girls being caught dead (figuratively speaking) in.

All-in-all, he gave this mousy girl a three. Points accumulated for a not-ugly face, but deducted for being boring and a little creepy.

"What's your name?" Sasuke demanded once his visual inspection had concluded.

The girl, presumably aware of his unabashed staring, stammered, "H-H-Hinata Hyuuga."

"Hyuuga?" he repeated. The name sounded a little familiar, but he couldn't place it. He decided to put more thought into it later.

"Y-Yes..."

"Are you a transfer?" he queried, certain that he would have noticed her before this if she had been present.

The girl shook her head bashfully. "N-No. We've been in the same class since f-first grade, S-Sasuke-san."

That didn't sound right. "Seriously?"

"Yes," she said, nodding in the affirmative fashion.

Sasuke took this pause in the conversation to observe her again, a little more closely this time. He leaned down and braced his upper body by placing one of his hands on the back of her chair. Clearly startled, Hinata Hyuuga turned her face toward him and fixed her wide ghostly eyes upon him. A warm blush melted into the curves of her cheeks as he moved in closer.

With his nose only inches away from hers, Sasuke reabsorbed her features into his memory. White, creepy eyes...dark indigo hair...round, pink cheeks...nope, still couldn't place her. "Are you sure?"

The girl leaned back and away from her as she answered him. "Y-Y-Y-Yes."

The stutter! _Now_ he remembered the trembling little girl always seated at the back of the classroom, far and away from the other students. She had been tiny, pale and overall very unremarkable; she had practically blended in to the neutrally-painted walls of their school room. He'd probably never even spoken to her before. "Your hair used to be shorter, right?"

The girl nodded so fervently that he thought she might topple over backwards, taking both the chair and himself down with her. He took mercy on her and stood back up at his full height.

If Hinata Hyuuga really had been his classmate for all of these long years, then Sasuke had been sitting only feet away from another medium since first grade. He'd probably known her longer than he'd even known how to read! He could have, potentially, been rid of his problem almost a decade ago...The thought alone caused a sharp spike in his blood pressure.

The girl was watching him through her moony eyes, discreetly peeking up at him through her dark bangs. He couldn't see her hands, but he suspected that her fingers were playing with themselves beneath the desk. The blush had abated, a little, and her chest was rising and falling steadily beneath her blazer.

Deciding to seethe later, Sasuke cleared his throat with a soft "ahem" and proceeded to get on with business. He shoved his hands deep within his pants pockets and began, "Last night, at my apartment, did you...see anything? Unusual, I mean."

The girl blinked twice at him. "Unusual...?"

"Like...," Sasuke paused and pondered the best terminological options. "Something dead?"

The blush drained out of her cheeks so fast Sasuke was inclined to think that she had suffered sudden massive blood loss. Her body became rigid, the tempo of her breathing increased, and her lips began to open and close wildly as if she were trying to force words out but they were stuck in her throat. The wheezing reply she gave was incomprehensible.

Bingo. She had seen the ghost. "How long have you – ?"

Sasuke was cut off by the first bell of the day. Already, laughing and chattering students were beginning to fill up the hallways and wander sullenly into their respective homerooms. A few had even meandered into 2-F while he had been talking to Hinata Hyuuga. (Weird, it just sounded _so familiar_. Like it was on the tip of his tongue...)

Grunting, Sasuke informed her that they would "finish this later" and moved his backpack aside so that he could take his seat. He leaned forward with his head in his palm and waited for his next opportune moment.

* * *

When the bell rang for lunch, Kakashi dismissed them by simply walking out of the room. Mid-sentence. Something about the symbolic nature of color in literature, or some such. Sasuke rather figured that it couldn't have been that important if even their teacher couldn't be bothered to finish a thought about it.

Whatever. Sasuke swiveled around in his seat, fully ready to resume his early-morning conversation with the moon-eyed girl – Hinata Hyuuga, he reminded himself – but found that she was already out of her seat. Her backpack had been flung over one shoulder with the largest pocket still wide open, threatening to spill all of her books and utensils. She struggled to keep it all inside as she swept past him, her eyes averted. Before he could say a word to call her back, she was flinging herself out the open classroom door.

Great. He hated hard-to-get.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun," another voice greeted. He smelled a whiff of strong, fruity perfume as whoever the person was planted themselves in the seat beside him. Sasuke kept his eyes trained on the back of the fleeing Hinata Hyuuga. "Want to have lunch together? I have more than enough to share..."

"No thanks," he refused without even acknowledging the identity of his host. Sasuke shoved his books deep into the recesses of his bag and began to stand. He was prepared to pursue his prey if that's what it took.

"Please," the voice pleaded just as a pink-haired face was planted in his way. The girl (he was pretty sure her name was Sakura or Sakuya or something like that) before him blinked up at him with glittering green eyes that were clearly meant to sway his earlier decision. "You've been out sick and I just – "

Sasuke brushed past the girl and aimed for the door. Maybe if he was fast enough he could still catch Hinata Hyuuga before she got too far away from him.

"Aw, don't let old sourpuss hurt your feelings, Sakura-chan," yet another voice – this one he recognized as that dipshit Naruto – soothed. "It's just his 'time of the month.'"

"No one asked you, Naruto," Sakura snipped in return. As he reached the door and rounded the corner, Sasuke could hear her shuffling her things around. "Leave me alone..."

* * *

Sasuke roamed the campus in search of his snow-eyed Hinata Hyuuga. She wasn't ordering nasty food by-product in the cafeteria, she wasn't giggling with her friends out in the quad, she wasn't pretending to study in the library, and she wasn't in the classroom (he'd gone back to check, just in case). Either she was cowering in the girls' bathroom or she'd gone off campus for lunch.

What was with this girl, anyway? She was crushing on him, but she couldn't bear to hold still long enough so that he could ask a simple question? Females just weren't part of the human species.

Leaning against one of the outside walls of the school building, Sasuke heaved a great sigh of exasperation. He knew that she had seen that ghost in his apartment; she had said (or not said) that much. Could she talk to them? Could she get rid of them? Was there a reason the ghost had backed down when she had come a-knocking? He had to know, it was driving him utterly bonkers trying to guess about the strange girl's powers.

She was the first and only person he'd ever known (besides himself, obviously) who could speak to beings from the other side, so it wasn't like he could just go out and find another medium to help hm. He'd already tried that, anyway; it turned out that all of the psychics on late night infomercials and at county fairs were frauds. Who knew?

Sasuke rested the back of his spiked head against the stucco wall of the school building and opened his eyes to gaze upwards. The sun blinked down at him through the clouds like the white-hot aura of an angry ghost and his pale skin prickled under the heat. He was starting to feel a tension headache throbbing under his forehead.

Opening his eyes to the burning light, Sasuke was struck with sudden inspiration. He hadn't checked the roof yet!

Damn! Not here, either. Sasuke, in bad temper, banged his fist against the door jamb and swore. His lunch period was almost over and Hinata Hyuuga was still evading his grasp. Stupid, cowardly little...

"Sasuke-kun?"

Just as Sasuke was about to slam the door shut behind him, he turned back around and snipped, "What?"

A girl with a high, blonde ponytail winced at his harsh tone. Behind her, a small cluster of other girls – Sakura, too, he noted – murmured behind their hands about him. He was about three seconds away from telling them all to shut the fuck up.

"Um...a-are you alright? You seem pretty...tense today," the girl observed, scanning her powder blue eyes over his face. He was pretty sure this one was in his class, too, but he couldn't be bothered to place her name. Pretty as she was, there were dozens more just like her and remembering them all simply wasn't feasible for the Uchiha.

"None of your business," Sasuke retorted, moving to leave again. On second thought, he turned back around and called her attention back. "Hey."

The blonde girl dutifully swiveled her head to face him again. The tip of her golden tail, swept over her shoulder as she rotated, rested just above the cleavage she so generously exposed through the top of her blouse. She blinked rapidly at him and, after a long moment, asked "Y-Yes?"

"Have you seen Hinata Hyuuga?" the Uchiha asked, not even amused at how pale all of their makeup-slathered faces turned. (Okay, so maybe it was a _little_ funny.)

After a long, startled moment, the blonde replied, "No...not since English. Why?"

"None of your business." What a bust. Sasuke pushed the door open further and took his first step into the cool, dark stairwell.

He was halfway down to the next floor when the girl emerged into the darkness, calling out to him. "Wait! Wait, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke waited to pause until he got to the landing and turned to face the same Barbie-blonde girl as she raced down the steps after him. As she bounced down each step, he caught little glimpses of her purple-flowered panties. "What do you want?"

"Hinata Hyuuga," the girl began, a little breathlessly. Sasuke waited with impatience for her to continue. "I think...well, we all do...that you should stay away from her."

"Why?" Jealousy was his best guess. Not that they had to worry.

"Because...," the girl trailed off again, eyes darting around her like someone might be listening in. If she didn't get to the point, and fast, Sasuke was going to walk away and not come back. "Because...she's kind of dangerous."

Dangerous. Right. "Yeah?"

"Yeah...they say that she sees ghosts. That she has some weird, dark powers and that she can _kill_ people by looking at them," the blonde revealed in a rush. She was still fidgeting and looking around like she expected Hinata Hyuuga to emerge from the walls and suck out her soul. "Please, stay away from her, Sasuke-kun. We..._I _don't want you to get hurt." She finished speaking with a pretty pink blush on her cheeks.

"I'll take that under advisement," Sasuke informed her, turning to conclude his descent to the next floor. Moments later, the end-of-lunch bell rang.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **So far so good, yes? This chapter is mainly filler meant to introduce characters and align some bits of the plot. Expect something more important next chapter.

**Next Update: **12/25/12 (Since I clearly love the idea of updating on holidays, you should find a new chapter in your stocking on Christmas morning. Assuming family stuff doesn't get in the way, you understand.)

Self-beta'd.

_. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) . _

– _Love can be black and white. SasuHina_


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** Ghost Story  
**Rating:** PG-13 ( T ) – becuz of all th' dead people. Also, I swear a lot.  
**Disclaimer: **This idea's not even that original, lolz...  
**Spoilers:** I SEE DEAD PEOPLE

**Summary:** AU. "You're a real cutie, you know that?" said a pretty teenage girl with wide brown eyes. If it weren't for that gaping head wound and blissfully vacant expression, he might have mistaken her for a living person. SasuHina.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Sasuke didn't return to his homeroom class after lunch but, instead, made a beeline straight for the boys' locker room. They had Physical Education immediately succeeding their break and, though the Uchiha would have rather skipped it, he figured he couldn't really miss another opportunity to corner Hinata Hyuuga.

As Sasuke's fingertips brushed the surface of the swinging door that led into the locker room, he hesitated. That janitor ghost would be in there, invisibly mopping up spills and leering at him with his undead eyes. Creepy.

Telling himself that there was nothing to be scared of, – what could the old man do? Windex him to death? – Sasuke forged on and went inside.

Most of his classmates were already there and in varying states of undress. They chattered on about this and that – homework assignments, cars, and girls, girls, girls – and ignored the Uchiha as he waded through them and chose an unassigned locker. He opened it up and shoved his bag inside before reaching for the knot in his tie.

"_'Scuse me, coming through..._" Sasuke jumped back and out of the way as a mop that only he could see swished past his feet. He felt a chill creep up his spine as the undead janitor followed, eyes averted from Sasuke and focused on his task. The old man never seemed aware of the prodigy or any of his other classmates, but he still gave Sasuke the heebie-jeebies.

Sasuke caught Shikamaru Nara, who was utilizing the locker next to his, staring at him in a very judgmental way. The Uchiha sneered in return and resumed undressing.

* * *

Sasuke emerged from the locker room minutes later wearing the standard-issue white T-shirt and dark burgundy sweatpants his school provided him. He scanned the gym, searching for that one particular girl, and finally – _finally_ – laid eyes on her. She was at the far end of the room by herself talking to...oh, gods.

If Hinata Hyuuga had wanted to keep him away, she couldn't have chosen a more effective method. There she was, chatting up the ghost-janitor like he was an old friend. The translucent old man leaned on the handle of his mop and flapped his wrinkled lips slowly while she, in return, smiled and spoke in a soft, hushed whisper.

Well, at least that answered two of his questions; the ghost-girl in his apartment hadn't been a fluke and, obviously, she could also talk to spirits. The most important one (whether or not she could exterminate them) was still left hanging, though. Maybe if he stood there long enough she would zap him with an energy blast, or something. That would be cool.

As the other members of their class started to trickle in, Hinata Hyuuga bid the janitor a quick farewell (no energy blast, bummer) and he resumed mopping the gym floor. The ghost continued forward until he disappeared through the opposite wall.

Hinata Hyuuga lowered herself down onto a bleacher, still self-segregated from the rest of her classmates, and waited patiently for something new to happen. This was his chance.

Sasuke, allowing no distractions this time, followed a direct path to the girl. He stopped directly in front of her, earning a startled (maybe horrified) look, and crossed his arms. "I've been looking for you," he informed her.

Hinata Hyuuga gulped and stared up at him, perhaps too surprised or frightened to tear her eyes away from his face. She sat there for a few petrified seconds, practically drowning in the gray sweatshirt she had swaddled herself in, and grew increasingly pale. Though he could barely see her hands within the sleeves of her extra large top, he could tell that she was enacting that annoying little habit of twiddling her fingers again.

"S-S-Sasuke-san, I – "

"You can talk to ghosts," he pointed out without preamble.

Though he hadn't thought it possible, the girl's face drained of what little color it had. She was now the color of sun-bleached bone. "Ah...I d-don't know what..."

"Don't bother denying it, I saw you talking to the creepy janitor," he accused. He'd spent all day tracking this girl down, damn it, and he was going to get what he wanted – nay, what he _deserved_ – from her. "You can talk to ghosts."

Hinata Hyuuga, surprisingly with her eyes still trained on his, couldn't even stammer out any actual words anymore. She babbled incoherently as he glared down at her.

She was saved from further interrogation by the shrill blare of the coach's whistle. "Come on, line up!"

Damn! Was she being protected by one (or all) of the gods? All of these interruptions were beginning to feel like a conspiracy.

"We'll continue this later," he swore, reaching down to grab hold of Hinata Hyuuga's upper arm. He hefted her to her feet, ignoring the way she stammered in protest. She wiggled, thrashed and tried to dig her heels into the slick wood-paneled floor, but Sasuke dragged her forward without much effort.

"L-Let go! I m-m-mean it!"

"After school. Meet me..." He thought for a second about where he wanted to arrange their rendezvous. It couldn't be anyplace haunted like the gym, or the library, or the girls' bathroom on the second floor (there was a particularly disturbing story associated with that location). "In the cafeteria."

"B-But, I can't – "

"You _will_," he reiterated as they merged with the rest of their class and the lesson started. The teacher was already doing enthusiastic jumping-jacks and encouraging them all to join in. "I have to know."

Sasuke released her arm and thrust her at the girls' side of the room. She stumbled a little and collided with Sakura who, a little warily, helped Hinata Hyuuga to her feet. The pink-haired girl and the rest of her drooling entourage stared at him in unmasked horror.

Sasuke ignored them all and began performing his exercises.

* * *

Sasuke waited impatiently in the cafeteria only minutes after last bell had rung. Either something was holding the girl up in the classroom or she had managed to escape him after all and gone home. Either way, the Uchiha was displeased by the fact that he had to waste his precious time waiting for Hinata Hyuuga to show her creepy face.

While he waited, Sasuke played a stupid little game on his phone. He didn't know why these birds were so angry, – or why they were feuding with green pigs, for that matter – but at least they were distracting. He wasn't terribly good at it, though; it took him three attempts just to get through the first level. Bah.

_Fzz-t_!

Sasuke looked up from his game when the lights went out. Did they turn off automatically after final bell, or something?

With no windows in this particular room, Sasuke was left in almost-complete darkness. His only light radiated from the face of his smartphone, which cast an eerie glow about his face. He was starting to get that creeping feeling again...

Just as the Uchiha was about to decide to wait in the hallway for Hinata Hyuuga, the cafeteria double-doors slammed shut simultaneously, trapping him inside. The jittery feeling he had just been experiencing evolved into full-blown panic; something was definitely in here with him and he wasn't getting a friendly vibe from it.

"What do you want?" Sasuke demanded to the black, silent room. He held up his smartphone and allowed the LCD screen to illuminate the darkness in his immediate space. As expected, he could still see nothing. "Who are you?"

SPLAT!

Sasuke's body pitched to the left as something cold, slimy and gooey collided with his cheek. His feet managed to regain purchase on the slick linoleum before he fell completely down, but he teetered uncertainly for a few seconds, arms flailing in the empty space.

"The hell...?" Sasuke complained, reaching up with his free hand to touch the substance that had nearly toppled him over. When he pulled his fingers back, he shone the light from his phone on his discovery and discovered...pudding?

A quick sniff and a tentative lick confirmed his suspicions; a ghost had attacked him with chocolate pudding.

While the Uchiha pondered the paranormal meaning behind assault-by-snack-pack, something harder struck him in the back of the cranium and brought him down to his knees. He reached out and braced himself on a chair as he fell, suspending his upper body over the the hard floor. The dinner roll that had felled him came to rest under it, skidding and spinning on the hard floor.

Sasuke blinked away the fireworks exploding before his eyes and congratulated himself on never having attempted to eat one of those things; he'd have chipped his teeth on that burned briquette the school so generously called bread for sure.

Splat, smack, _bam_!

In quicker succession, Sasuke was pelted with a trio of other lunchroom delicacies, – two to the chest, one to the solar plexus – the last of which smelled like rotting meat. As he wiped the offending food from his uniform, he noted that it had all been served to the students earlier that day.

Utilizing his previously dormant reflexes, the Uchiha flattened himself against the linoleum as a cupcake with pink icing flew through the empty space where his head had just been. More dessert items followed as he crawled forward and took shelter under the nearest table. The angry barrage of food followed him as he retreated, creating a sloppy trail along his escape route.

As he pulled his feet under the safety of the table, he could hear the remnants of past lunches beating against the top like smelly hail. What the hell kind of ghost pelts its victims with day-old churros? Ugh...

At least he was safe under the –

Sasuke threw his arms over his head as the table was lifted off of him and flung against the far wall, its metal pieces shattering and scattered in multiple directions. One of the crossbars bounced off his shoulder and clattered to the floor behind him somewhere.

With his shelter gone, Sasuke had no choice but to make a run for the doors. He forced his throbbing shoulder to support his weight as he struggled to his feet, slipping and sliding in the greasy mixture of food the ghost's attack had left on the floor, and flung himself in the direction of the exit. He had dropped both his phone and his backpack sometime during the barrage of spoiled food, but couldn't go back for them now.

The Uchiha slipped and fell more than once during his escape, hampered both by the slick soles of his shoes and the continuing onslaught of edible projectiles. He reached the doors and slammed his entire weight into one of them; it didn't budge at all.

Angry, frustrated and scared beyond reason, Sasuke took hold of the bar that spanned the width of the door and began shaking it back and forth violently. He screamed and cursed as it continued to refuse him exit and unleashed a renewed wave of force against it.

"Come on, you fucking thing!" he shouted. He could feel tears stinging the corners of his eyes and vegetables pelting the back of his head as he shook the handle. The door remained unmoved. "OPEN!"

BLAM!

Sasuke was brought down again as an entire pie collided with the left side of his face, spilling banana and cream filling down his front and onto the floor. The force was so great that he was flung to the floor and went skidding across the ground, lubricated by a wide puddle of chocolate milk. He didn't stop until a table in his trajectory forced him to. He bounced off of the corner and collapsed against the wall slightly to his right.

The Uchiha, huffing from exertion and rage, reached up to fling the goo from his face. His fingers came away covered in cream and blood. Both flowed freely down the side of his face and soaked into whatever white was left in his shirt.

Sasuke allowed his hands to flop down to the sticky floor, defeated. They landed with a splash in a mixture of milk, blood and what he presumed was once vegetable soup and didn't move. Now the ghost only had to finish him off. What a humiliating way to die.

Bang, bang, bang!

"Sasuke-san! Are you in there?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes until they focused on the door. Someone was on the other side, calling for him.

"Sasuke-san! Please, answer me!" It was a girl's voice. It was difficult to pin an identity to because it was muffled both by the door between them and the fuzzy ringing that was bouncing around between Sasuke's ears, but he was pretty sure he knew who it was.

"H...Hyuuga?" Better late than never, he supposed. Food continued to rain down upon him – peas, chicken nuggets, bagels, cheese sauce, oyster crackers, mashed potatoes, eggs, whole cloves of garlic, meatloaf – and all he could do was duck down and cover his eyes with the lapel of his jacket.

"S-Stay there...don't move," she warned. Even if Sasuke had enjoyed the ability of motility in the face of grievous injury and full-on food assault, he wouldn't have dared; there was no telling what kind of scary ghost powers she could unleash on person and property.

Sasuke waited for a minute, and then waited for a few more. What was she doing out there? Building up a crazy wave of power? He really wished she would just blow the doors off its hinges already and rescue him.

Several more minutes passed by and, as he instinctively dodged the food by-products thrown at his head, Sasuke started to suspect that she had left him there to suffer painful death-by-chocolate-pudding. "Hyuuga?" he called, a carton of skim milk bursting against the wall next to his ear.

No answer.

"Hyuuga! What the – ?"

"Sasuke-kun? Are you in there?" someone – obviously both male and adult – called through the closed doors. The Uchiha could hear whoever it was rattling the bars from the other side.

"Here!" Sasuke called, gingerly raising himself onto his feet by inches. His back was braced against the slimy wall and he ascended slowly until he was fully upright and panting. "I'm here!"

"Are you hurt?" the man called, still shaking the closed doors. Sasuke really wished he would stop that; the pain in his head throbbed in rhythm with the banging and rattling.

"A little. I...fell," the Uchiha lied, wincing as another stale dinner roll caught him in the solar plexus. What did they put in those things? Glue? Cement? Molten lead?

"Okay, stand back...I'm going to try breaking down the door," the man promised. There was a short pause where Sasuke imagined him backing up and making a sprint for the doors. A loud bang seconds later suggested he had been correct.

From the other side, Sasuke could hear some loud swearing. "Sorry, Hinata-chan. I shouldn't have used that word."

The Uchiha couldn't hear the words that followed very well; they were too soft for his pastry-clogged ears to pick up. He caught the very end of her sentence, however; "...I could try?"

"It's locked up pretty tight," the man warned. "We might have to call the fire department..."

Fucking perfect. An audience.

A few muffled words later and the man reluctantly agreed. "Alright...just be careful."

Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak.

As the door slowly opened, two figures appeared between the frame, back-lit by the florescent lighting that flowed in from the hallway. One of them, the man, rushed inside with his arms outstretched in the darkness. The girl hung back with her hand still grasping at the push bar, glowing faintly.

"Sasuke-kun?" the man called, inching forward cautiously. His feet slid around in no discernible

pattern as he made his way across the slick floor. "What the hell?"

Sasuke ignored him and kept his eyes trained on Hinata Hyuuga. The soft lavender glow was fading, almost as if being reabsorbed into her body, but it still lingered like a low-lying fog. Her moony eyes stood out brightly in the darkness.

"Hinata-chan," the man called out, stopping in the middle of the chaos to incline his head toward the girl. He didn't seem surprised that she stood out in the dark like a purple glow stick and Sasuke had to figure that the man couldn't see the girl's aura (or whatever it was). "Could you flip on the lights, please? I can't see a thing in here."

Hinata Hyuuga took one step into the room, just one, and – fzz-t! – the overhead lights flickered back to life.

In the wash of bright florescent, the room was a catastrophe. Spilled food was on the floors, walls, tables, chairs, cash register – everything. No surface was completely untouched by the paranormal food fight except the two people had only just emerged into the chaos.

"My gods...," the man, who was now clearly revealed to be his homeroom teacher, Iruka, commented. His gaze traveled around the room and attempted to take in everything. "What happened in here?"

Sasuke, tearing his eyes away from the bashful Hinata Hyuuga for the first time, looked around at the battlefield. Chairs were overturned, more than one table broken into jagged pieces of metal and plastic, the ceiling dripped a steady rain of milk and soup, a mismatched medley of vegetables and dessert was scattered across the floor, and traces of his own blood could be found in splotches all around the room. Against the far wall behind Iruka, the word "FOODFIGHT!" was smeared in what looked like mashed potatoes and mystery meat.

"I found it like this," Sasuke lied. He saved truth-telling for times when people might actually believe it.

For the first time, Iruka's eyes focused on Sasuke. His eyes enlarged to the size of half-dollars and his mouth fell open, jaw slackened. "What happened to _you_?"

"Slipped."

"Into what? A buffet table?"

Sasuke shrugged in response. He regretted it a moment later when his shoulder throbbed angrily.

The Uchiha ignored the pain and stumbled over to where he had abandoned his backpack and phone. They were laying in a heap on the disgusting floor, covered in a hill of chicken nuggets and cheese sauce. Sasuke did his best to fling the edibles off and slung the strap of his bag over his good shoulder. He wiped the phone on the front of his already ruined jacket and slipped it into his pocket.

Stepping around the clumps of food scattered around him, Sasuke made a quick escape through the still-open doorway before either the ghost decided to resume his food fight or his teacher detained him for further questioning. He left the baffled educator staring at the remains of three weeks worth of lunches finger painted onto the walls and ceiling.

On his way past Hinata Hyuuga, the Uchiha muttered, "Later."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** This chapter was completely different at first, and then I got the idea for a poltergeist/supernatural food fight XD I COULD NOT RESIST!

Oh, and I forgot to mention this before but all of the ghosts in this story are OCs. There are probably more than enough minor characters within _Naruto_ that I could use, but that would require research and I'm sooooooooo lazy. I figure it's just easier this way. All the important roles will be portrayed by characters from the series.

**Next Update: **1/31/13 (Merry Christmas [or whatever you celebrate]! Back to updating on the last day of the month again. See you next year!)

Self-beta'd.

_. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) . _

– _Love can be black and white. SasuHina_


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** Ghost Story  
**Rating:** PG-13 ( T ) – becuz of all th' dead people.  
**Disclaimer: **This idea's not even that original, lolz...  
**Spoilers:** I SEE DEAD PEOPLE

**Summary: **AU. "You're a real cutie, you know that?" said a pretty teenage girl with wide brown eyes. If it weren't for that gaping head wound and blissfully vacant expression, he might have mistaken her for a living person. SasuHina.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Good thing the world didn't end, eh?

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Sasuke's keys jingled as he turned the lock on his front door. It gave way after his usual bit of finagling – one always had to turn the key with one hand while jerking the doorknob upwards with the other and wiggling it – and he tumbled inside, exhausted.

His backpack landed by the door with a disgusting "splat" as he simultaneously kicked off his shoes. They landed haphazardly in the corner and Sasuke didn't bother straightening them. All he wanted was a shower and his bed.

"_What happened to __**you**__?_" an eerie, echoing voice queried.

Ah, fuck. Sasuke frowned at the ghost-girl floating above his TV as he loosened the knot in his food-speckled tie. "You're still here?"

Since pondering her questionable presence in someone else's home would presumably damage her delusions of still being alive, the girl chose to ignore that question. "_Did you get into a fight with the lunch lady?_"

"Something like that...," he replied, slipping the tie from his collar and allowing it to fall to the floor wherever it chose. He padded to the bathroom in his greasy sock feet while he unclasped the top three buttons of his shirt.

He made a quick detour to his dresser and pulled the top drawer open. He was about to reach in and grab some clean clothes when it struck him how dirty his hands were. He wiped his palms against the interior of his pockets – the only portion of his clothing completely guarded from the lunchroom onslaught – and withdrew them covered in fuzz. He snorted in exasperation and began digging through his collection of underwear anyway.

A cold presence against his back alerted him to the near proximity of the ghost-girl before she spoke. "_Bad day?_"

"I don't want to talk about it," Sasuke said. Goosebumps were beginning to raise on his extremities.

Careful to step around his ghastly house guest lest he treat himself to a cloud of freezing ectoplasm, Sasuke closed the distance between himself and his ultimate destination (the shower) quickly. The ghost-girl hovered to the side, arms crossed over her spangly One Direction T-Shirt, and glared at him with accusing brown eyes. "_You don't have to take it out on me, you know. I was just asking about your day like a nice person._"

Sasuke grunted and reached for the bathroom doorknob. He twisted it, pulled the door wide and was about to step inside when he stopped. He inclined his head toward the ghost-girl, who was still staring at him with her annoyed gory eyes, and said, "Don't follow me in here."

"_That's so rude! I wouldn't –_ "

He closed the door with a firm "slam" behind him.

Sasuke watched the bits of food and swirls of blood circle the drain as he allowed the shower water to beat down upon him. He'd turned the temperature up a little too high, but he didn't really mind being scalded; all the better to wash away the shame and ectoplasm.

As the steam billowed around his nude body, Sasuke pondered the events of his day. He had gone to school, confronted the girl, chased her around campus, confronted her _again_ and then been attacked by a foodfighting poltergeist. He honestly couldn't remember a worse day.

Well, that wasn't entirely true, but some memories were best left forgotten. He shivered and turned the water temperature up another notch.

The problem of Hinata Hyuuga's clear reluctance to help him required solving. Either she was bashful or sincerely repulsed by the thought of him, – something which he hadn't encountered in a girl before – but he still needed her. If the encounter in the cafeteria proved anything it was that he couldn't continue to allow supernatural beings to overrun his life. He didn't know if Hinata Hyuuga had the ability to vanquish ghosts back to the other side, but he absolutely needed to find out.

The girl herself was a little weird, though. He could understand being ostracized by their peers, – that idiot Naruto faced the same problem daily – but Hinata Hyuuga seemed to encourage the black balling. From his observations today, he could clearly see that she segregated herself from the rest of the student body and kept a wary distance. Was she just being respectful of her classmates' obvious aversion to her? If so, that was kind of pathetic.

If the reactions of his skittish fangirls were anything to reason by (something he hadn't previously considered possible), she had some spooky powers that made her dangerous to the general population. Was that why she exiled herself to the Elba of unpopularity? Was she afraid of hurting people or burning down the school accidentally? Could she unleash some sort of supernatural howitzer? (That would be cool.)

Whatever reasons she had for avoiding him would be conquered. Sasuke was determined.

The shower water was growing cooler of its own volition, so Sasuke quickly washed his hair one more time, scrubbed the last vestiges of chocolate pudding from between his toes (he didn't even want to imagine how it had gotten there) and rinsed thoroughly. When there were no more traces of his encounter with the Foodfighter, he shut off the faucet and pulled back the plastic, duckie-covered shower curtain to reach for his towel.

As he rubbed the droplets of water from his tangled hair, he began formulating a new, more direct plan of attack.

"_Aaah_!" Sasuke screamed as he jolted awake, his heart beating a hard, uneven tempo against the inside of his ribcage. Beads of cold sweat trickled down every inch of his exposed skin and soaked into the white undershirt and boxers he'd donned before bed. His wide, terrified eyes found his alarm clock in the dark; the glowing red letters told him it was three-fifteen in the morning.

Sasuke grabbed hold of his sheets and unwound them from his legs before planting his feet on the floor. His bare toes recoiled at the contact with the cold hardwood, but the Uchiha reveled in the sensation. Feeling cold meant that he was still alive.

As his eyes adjusted to the pre-dawn light, Sasuke swiveled them around the room in search for intruders. He didn't find any, as his rational mind had suspected. His closet, with the door swung open, was empty of all except his clothes, the power light on his laptop blinked at him from his orderly desk, and all of his belongings were still in the places he had left them before dropping off to sleep. Even the ghost-girl seemed to be gone for the moment, though he was sure she was lurking somewhere out of sight so that she could ambush him later.

Feeling jittery and silly, the Uchiha brought his hand up to his face to wipe the sweat away. He didn't know what had woken him up, – a nightmare, presumably – but there was little chance of getting back to sleep now. The bed creaked as he shifted his weight onto his feet and walked the three steps to his dresser. Pulling open the top drawer, he withdrew a new undershirt and pair of boxers.

Sasuke then ventured another five steps and, after groping around in the darkness through the open doorway, flipped on the bathroom light. The bright florescent burned his retina as the bulbs flickered to life and Sasuke blinked at the onslaught. After his eyes adjusted, he stepped into the room and threw his change of underclothes onto the counter top.

With his palms braced on the lips of the sink, Sasuke slumped forward and closed his eyes. He fought to recall the details of his terror, but his memory was blank. All he had left were the traces of adrenaline in his blood.

Sasuke opened his eyes and a new surge of terror sent him stumbling backwards into the opposite wall. The back of his head collided with the corner of his towel rack and bright white spots burst before his eyes like New Years fireworks. When his vision cleared, all he saw was his own reflection in the bathroom mirror.

What the hell? Sasuke knew – could have sworn – there had been a face. A terrible, dark face with golden eyes and a gruesome sneer. It had wanted to consume him.

When the locker slammed shut, just barely missing the tips of her fingers, Hinata Hyuuga made an adorable little squeaking sound. She swiveled her head around and her moony gaze connected with Sasuke's. "Good morning."

"G-G-Good m-morning," the girl stammered, trembling like prey caught in a trap. Her eyes remained trained on him as if she were afraid to withdraw them.

Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiing! The final warning for homeroom echoed down the emptying hallways like a screeching banshee. Students dove into their respective classrooms, heralded by its wail.

Sasuke kept his palm planted firmly against the face of Hinata Hyuuga's locker and leaned in, just to unsettle her. "We never got to talk yesterday," he commented. His tone was casual and calm, but his frustration was understood by both of them. She swallowed as if her tongue were stuck to the roof of her mouth. "Let's go somewhere...private."

The girl began stumbling backwards, her loafer-covered feet tripping over each other, in a vain attempt to get away. Sasuke extended his other arm and foiled her escape. With her caught within the cage of his arms, she had nowhere to go.

"W-We have c-class," she reminded him. Her lip was beginning to tremble and her eyelashes beat rapidly against the curve of her cheek. Maybe she was going to cry.

Sasuke didn't care. He leaned in until their foreheads were touching and their gazes were aligned. A sharp jolt of stinging pleasure coursed down his spine. "I don't care. I'm getting what I want from you and I'm not accepting any excuses."

"Hey! You there – quit that hanky-panky and get to class!"

Sasuke raised his head enough to see the hall monitor pointing at them from around the corner. He pasted on a quick smile and said, "On our way. C'mon, Hyuuga."

Grabbing hold of Hinata Hyuuga's upper arm, he tugged her away from the wall and steered her down the corridor. They passed the hall monitor, who was glaring at them with creepily magnified eyes through his spectacles, and Sasuke paused to nudge open the door to the stairwell with his shoulder. He dragged the girl inside and closed it behind them.

Instead of mounting the staircase, Sasuke proceeded forward to the door that led outside. He pushed that one out of his way, too, and they both emerged into the bright fall sunlight.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I know this one was short, but I felt that it conveyed everything that it needed to. I'm hoping the chapters will grow in length as soon as I have more important things to fill them with.

Also, though this story will be primarily humorous, expect some creepy passages/segments throughout. There's no point to a ghost story that doesn't give you chills.

Sorry for the delay. I've barely touched my computer since January...

Self-beta'd.

_**. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) .**_

– _Love can be black and white. SasuHina_


End file.
